North Mississippi Allstars

North Mississippi Allstars
North Mississippi Allstars in a wedding reception performance in Gunnison, Mississippi, 1999.
Background information
Origin	Hernando, Mississippi, USA
Genres	Southern rock, Blues-rock, Jam band, Hill Country Blues
Years active	1996 – present
Labels	Tone-Cool, Artemis, Ato, Songs of the South
Associated acts	The Black Crowes, Shawn Lane, Hill Country Revue, The Word, John Hiatt, Jimbo Mathus, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, John Hermann, Duwayne Burnside, Otha Turner, R.L. Burnside, Jim Dickinson
Website	www.nmallstars.com
Members
Luther Dickinson Cody Dickinson Chris Chew
Past members
Duwayne Burnside

North Mississippi Allstars is a Southern rock/blues jam band from Hernando, Mississippi, founded in 1996. The band is composed of brothers Luther Dickinson (guitar, vocals) and Cody Dickinson (drums, keyboards, electric washboard), and Chris Chew (electric bass guitar). In addition to the guitar, Dickinson also plays a cigar box guitar called the "lowebow."^[specify] Duwayne Burnside, who formerly played second guitar in the band, is a son of R. L. Burnside (who also played on some of the band's tracks).

Allstars' first release, Shake Hands With Shorty, was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Contemporary Blues Album". Since then, 51 Phantom and Electric Blue Watermelon have received nominations in that same category. The group also won a Blues Music Award for "Best New Artist Debut" in 2001.^[1]

The band made their network television debut in 2000 on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. They also served as the house band for a short period in 2004 on Last Call with Carson Daly.

The band now backs up and tours with John Hiatt. They have released an album with him entitled Master of Disaster. All the members of the Allstars have also teamed up with Robert Randolph and John Medeski to form The Word.

In November 2007, Luther Dickinson joined The Black Crowes as lead guitarist, and has appeared on their albums Warpaint (2008), Before the Frost...Until the Freeze (2009) and Croweology (2010). Luther Dickinson currently devotes his time to both the Black Crowes and the North Mississippi Allstars. Cody Dickinson has also started a side project, Hill Country Revue, featuring Daniel Coburn, Kirk Smithhart, Doc Samba and Ed Cleveland.^[2] They are sometimes joined by Luther Dickinson and members of the Burnside family. They have released two albums, Make A Move (2009) and Zebra Ranch (2010).^[3]

Luther and Cody Dickinson's father was the Memphis musician and record producer, Jim Dickinson. He, besides releasing music in his own name, worked with Ry Cooder, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, and Primal Scream. Jim Dickinson also set up the Zebra Ranch recording studio complex during the 1990s in Hernando, Mississippi. His career spanned more than four decades before he died on August 15, 2009.

The band currently (2011) opens for Robert Plant and the Band of Joy on their concert tour.

Releases

• Shake Hands With Shorty (2000)
• 51 Phantom (2001)
• Polaris (2003)
• Tate County (Hill Country Blues) (2003) Private Release
• Hill Country Revue: Live at Bonnaroo (2004)
• Instores & Outtakes [EP] (2004)
• Electric Blue Watermelon (2005)
• Screwed & Chopped [EP] (2005)
• Keep On Marchin' - Live In Burlington, VT (2007)
• Mississippi Folk Music - Volume One (2007)
• Hernando (2008)
• Boulderado - Live At The Fox (2008)
• Do It Like We Used to Do (2009, 2CD+DVD live set)
• Live In The Hills - Bootleg (2010)
• Keys To The Kingdom (2011)

References

1. ^ Blues.org
2. ^ [1]
3. ^ [2]

External links

• Official website
• North Mississippi Allstars on Myspace
• North Mississippi Allstars at Allmusic
• Jim Dickinson's Web Site and the private release of Tate County(Hill Country Blues)
• Review of Tate County(Hill Country Blues) at Jambands.com
• Hill Country Revue Official Website
• North Mississippi Allstars collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive